Improvement in modes of constructing buildings



C. M. AMSD'EN. Mode of Constructing Buildings. `NQ. 127,289, n Patented'May 28,1872.

UNITED STATES CHARLES M. AMSDEN, OF WOOSTER, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN MODES OF CONSTRUCTING BUILDINGS.

Specification forming part 0f Letters Patent No.` 127,289, dated May 28, 1872 antedated May LII, 1872.

SPECIFICATION.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. AMsnnN, of Wooster, in the county of Wayne and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mode of Constructing Buildings; and that the following is a full, clear, and exact specification thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the said invention.

My invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of thin artificialstone blocks for building fronts or faces, and in the manner of yforming attachments on the building-wall for the cement or concrete filling which unites such blocks to the back wall. The first part of said invention consists in the construction of thin artificialstone blocks, having lugs or projections of a dovetail or analogous section on their back faces and lugs of a half-dovetail section on their vertical edges, so that the cement filling which unites these blocks to the back wall shall also serve as a clamp to hold the blocks from separating at their vertical joints. The second part of said invention consists in the construction of thin artificial-stone blocks, having grooves formed in their edges back of their front faces, into which a roll of hydraulic cement canvbe laid to act as a tongue to hold the faces of the blocks in line, and to prevent moisture from penetrating the joints,

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view, showing the application of my invention to a wooden-frame building. Fig. 2 is a crosssection of one of the walls of the building shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a perspective view, showing the application of my invention to a brick building. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the back face of the building-block. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan, showing one mode of securing the front work to a frame without sheathing boards. Fig. 6 is a sectional plan, showing one mode of securing the frontwork to awooden framewhere the sheathing-boards are used. I

The building-block A is made of any suitable artificial stone, and its front face and general form can be molded to suit any required design for the front. On its back face are formed the lugs H, which are usually made of the dovetaiL segtion shown, and which are conveniently placed so as to stand perpendicularly when the block is put in position in order to facilitate the running in of the cement backing. The lugs may, however, be simply isolated knobs, as indicated by dotted lines 71. in Fig. 4., instead of extending the whole width of the block, as shown at H, and.

they can be made in any desired form which will allow the cement to take a solid hold on them when set, their purpose being simply to give the cement a hold on the blocks. The end lugs H are made of a half-dovetail section, so that when two blocks are placed together the cement will act to hold them closely together at their vertical joints. A small groove, a, is formed around the edges of the block, into which hydraulic cement can be laid as the blocks are put in position for the purpose of holding the faces of the blocks in line, as well as to prevent dampness from passing in at the joints between the blocks. The thickness of the blocks will vary to conform to the nature of the design for the front as well as to the height of the building, and must, therefore, be left to the judgment of the constructor; but for ordinary buildings of two or three stories in height a thickness of one and one-half inch for the body of the stone, and of two and one-half inches for the body and lugs, will be found to be sufficient;

The artificial stone known as Sansomes concrete or artificial stone, in common use in England, and described in various publications, as well as the bton co'ignean artificial stone well known in France, and in use in this country, and which is described in United States Oommissioners Report on the Paris Exposition of`1867, volume 4, pages 6 and 7, of Beckwiths report, can be advantageously used in the manufacture of these building-blocks.

In the application of these blocks, shown in Figs. l and 2, E represents the foundation wall 5 D, the water-table," P, the sill of the frame; O O, the frame-pieces or studding of a balloon-frame, and B, the sheathing77 or boards which are nailed to the studding-pieces C. The headed spikes d cl are driven into the studding G through the sheathing and form the attachments for the cement to the frame. The blocks A are laid in courses on the water-table D at a distance of about two inches from the sheathing B, and, after a course is set up, the space between the sheathing and blocks is filled in with cement or concrete, which is'made thin enough to be poured in after the manner of puddling. Another course of blocks is then placed so as to break joints77 with the rst course, and the concrete or4 cement is run in, as before, and so on until the front is completed, the grooves a a in the edges of the blocks being pressed full of fine piece of light iron bent down at each end and fastened to the frame by a nail or spike,v,and t0 the blocks by hooking into a groove, a, as shown in Fig. 2. y

Instead of using the headed spikes d d as a means of uniting the cement lling F 'to the frame, the cleats K K, made with chamfered edges, may be nailed onto the studding C, outside of the sheathing B, as shown on rightliand side of opening in the wall in Fig. 1 and in Fig. 6. l

The wall may be constructed withoutthe sheathing B by forming cleats L L on the sides of the studding C, as shown in Fig. 5, and using boards between the studding to hold the cement until hardened sufficiently to stand by itself, in a manner evident to any mechanic.

In the application shown to a brick building in Fig. 3, the anchor-irons m m are built into the brick work M, which can be all laid up before the front is put on, when the blocks A can be set up and the cement filling F be put in, as bef'ore shown, or, if preferred, the front and brick-work can be carried up together 5 and for greater security the long anchor-irons s s may be laid in, as shown, said irons hooking into the grooves c in the edges ofthe blocks A and over the back edge of the brick-work.

It will be seen that in all theseeases the general plan of connecting the stone front blocks to the main wall or frame by means of a cement or concrete filling or backing, which is run in in the form of puddling, and which interlocks with lugs on the front blocks and withV projections of some kind on the wall or frame, so as to hold the blocks and frame together when it becomes set, is used, with only such modifications as will adapt it to certain requirements in each case; and that in all these cases, instead of using an artificialstone block of four or live inches in thickness, an average thickness of onlyl about one and one-half inch is used, the stone required for the additional two to four inches in the iirst instance being replaced by the cement lilling in the second case 5 and this, too, without any material loss of warmth, imperviousness to dampness, and stability, as the cement filling becomes almost a solid part of the front block when set, and the block is of sufficient thickness to exclude moisture, so that the cement filling and front block together afford the same warmth and strength as the thick front block in the first instance, while the front block in the second case affords all necessary protection against dampness.

The plan of facing brick walls With hard artificial-stone blocks, shown in Fig. 3, may be applied to protect old brick Walls from dampness by securing spikes or cleats on the wall in a manner similar to that shown in The form and size of the'edge groove a can be modified to suit the size of cement tongue b required, but it should be placed back of the front edge of the stone block, so that nothing shall be seen of the cement b from the face when the front is completed.

I lay no claim to any particular composition for the manufacture of the building blocks herein described; nor do I lay any claim to y the construction of artificial-stone front blocks,

except when made with end lugs of the form described, for the purpose ofholding the blocks together laterally by means of the cement or concrete flllin g 5 nor do I claim the use of thin stone fronts in combination with a back wall or frame, except when said front is constructed of blocks of the peculiar construction specified.

Claims.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- 1 l. A buildin g-block of artificial stone having lugs or projections formed on its rear face and half-dovetail lugs at its ends, substantially asl and for the purpose specified.

2. A building-block of artificial stone having grooves formed in its edges back of its front face for the reception of a ,roll of hydraulic cement, which acts as a tongue to hold the faces of the blocks in line and prevents moisture from penetrating the joints, substantially as is herein specified.

As evidence of the foregoing specification and claims I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses this 25th day of July, A. D. 1S7l. y

CHARLES M. AMSDEN. Witnesses: f f

-J os. H. DowNING,

J oHN K. McBRrDE. o 

